Sacramento County redistricting map approved, but supervisor calls it ‘flawed’
The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors this week adopted the supervisorial district map that establishes voting boundaries for the next 10 years in a process that some have criticized.
The Board of Supervisors during its meeting Wednesday voted 4-1 to adopt the final 2021 Sacramento County redistricting map.
Supervisor Patrick Kennedy, who represents District 2, voted no. He said he felt the supervisors did not adequately address community concerns during the redistricting process, particularly the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
County officials said in a news release Wednesday that the final district map is a result of the Board of Supervisors’ direction on revisions to earlier draft maps presented at its meetings on Nov. 2, 16 and 17, as well as public input. The public submitted more than 200 written comments with suggestions for redistricting and supervisorial boundary lines, including some who submitted their own maps for consideration, either hand drawn or drawn using the mapping tools made available online.
County residents can use an online interactive supervisor district map to view the new lines and see where they reside within them.
Supervisor Don Nottoli, who represents District 5, said the redistricting process was done in a public venue, and he appreciated comments submitted from the public. He said he recognizes “it’s not a perfect process,” but the final map reflects much of the direction and guidance given.
“Albeit there may be some disappointment, I think we worked really hard to certainly address the myriad of guidelines as well as obviously the things that are embedded in law,” Nottoli said during Tuesday’s meeting.
Several community groups last month urged the Board of Supervisors to put Elk Grove, Florin and Vineyard into the same district to ensure AAPI communities who live there have a strong voting representation. The finalized map failed to do so.
During Tuesday’s supervisors meeting, Kennedy said the redistricting map process “makes me uncomfortable.” He said he plans on proposing an independent redistricting committee to improve the process for the future.
Kennedy said another reason the now adopted map “is flawed and the reasoning behind it is flawed” is because it fails to adequately address the concerns of how the map will impact the LGBTQ community.
“I will just say that I don’t think drawing the districts up on the dais was a good practice. I don’t think it’s best practice,” Kennedy said.
Supervisor districts are redrawn every 10 years after the U.S. Census Bureau releases population change figures. Glendale-based firm National Demographics Corp., hired by Sacramento County to assist with the redistricting, created several maps for the board to consider. A dozen maps were also submitted by the public.
There are several principles to redistricting local leaders typically follow, such as creating compact districts and preserving communities of interest such as cities and neighborhoods.
Districts should be balanced population-wise too: the difference between the smallest district and the largest district must be less than 10%, even if new population growth and housing development is expected in the next decade.
Supervisors spent hours in meetings last month poring over the redistricting mapping software. Picking and choosing different blocks and neighborhoods, they directed NDC consultant Douglas Yoakam to add and subtract from districts in real time, the results of which were put up on projectors in the room and livestreamed.
Following the Nov. 17 meeting, the Sacramento County’s Geographic Information System team worked with the county’s redistricting consultant to proof the district lines suggested by the Board of Supervisors, according to the county news release. The team also compared it to the district lines, Census blocks and legal boundary descriptions for all jurisdictions in the county, including cities.
“NDC and the County’s GIS team made minor adjustments to the Final Draft Map to address miscoding of census blocks, to avoid sliver precincts and new ballot types, and to adhere to the Board’s recommendations on Nov. 16-17,” county officials wrote in the news release.
More information about the redistricting process can be found on the Sacramento County redistricting webpage.
This story was originally published December 8, 2021 at 3:22 PM.
